44

Chapter 44: Part XLIVNotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just borrowing for a while.

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"By all means marry. If you get a good wife you will become happy, and if you get a bad one you will become a philosopher. I was fortunate enough to end up a happy philosopher but don't expect that to happen too often."

Joffrey Augustus (partially borrowed from Socrates).

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Karhold – The North – 299 AC

It was a strong and imposing castle to be sure, Beric Dondarrion thought to himself, though you could never accuse it of being welcoming or attractive, like those that built the place it was practical, unrefined and frankly more than a little bleak.

To be fair many would say much the same of his own seat Castle Blackhaven, the black basalt walls and the yawning chasm that acted as its dry moat in no way resembled the picturesque storybook castles of the Reach, but he could see why his squire had observed when they first arrived that a pretty girl like Lady Alys deserved a prettier home.

Of course the prettier home Edric Dayne had in mind for her was his own, Castle Starfall, which was the reason they had stopped off at Karhold on the way back to King's Landing in the first place.

Even in high summer, when only a smattering of snowfall was the norm even in these climes, it was usually quicker to travel by sea than land but as winter gradually started to draw in traversing even the Kingsroad became an increasing slog of a journey. The quickest way to get from the Wall to the southern kingdoms was nearly always to follow alongside it to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and then seek passage on a ship, and this was particularly true at the moment because far more vessels than normal were plying that route, bringing men and supplies to bolster the northern border.

Fortunately Karhold itself sat on a river near the coast and the captain of the carrack plying the coastal trade route down to White Harbour that Beric and Edric boarded at Eastwatch had no objection to the slight detour required to drop them off there. When time came to leave a raven to Eastwatch requesting another passing ship heading south to collect them enroute would be simple enough, and if it happened to be a vessel of the Royal Fleet they wouldn't even have to pay for passage because they would be heading to King's Landing to report to the Iron Throne.

Surrounded by forests supplying plentiful wood for the fires Karhold was at least kept warm enough, and the good harvests of the long summer had filled the stores and granaries to capacity, but Lord Rickard Karstark had temporarily returned home from the Wall to make sure that his fief was as ready as it could be for what would likely be several bad years in a row. With near half the men of fighting age up at the Wall it fell to those left to do all the work and more women and old men than usual were to be seen logging and working in the fields as Beric and his Squire made their way to the castle to present themselves.

They were expected of course and were met at the gate not only by Lord Karstark but also his wife and daughter, the latter wearing what seemed to be a new dress ordered from an expensive seamstress from the south and making Edric grateful he had changed into his best clothes on the ship. The girl's dress was probably a little thin for the weather and Alys visibly shivered, although she still managed a warm smile and tried not to look too grateful when they all went inside to the castles great hall heated by a roaring fire.

After partaking of some mulled wine, served suitably hot, Beric managed to pull their host aside for a quiet word while Edric made an effort to charm Alys and her mother.

"The boy's aunt replied to my letter, it arrived from Starfall not long before we set off from Castle Black" he told Rickard Karstark quietly. "She has no objection to Edric's betrothal in principle, but she's loathe to give her blessing without meeting the girl and I don't think Edric will be happy to go ahead without it" he told him. "He might be the Lord of Starfall but he's still just a boy and she's his only family. You've got to remember that even before Edric's father and his wife passed away she had already lost her other brother Arthur and her sister Ashara so she's understandably protective."

Karstark nodded his understanding. "I thought that might be. I suppose she's more of a mother to him than an aunt" he suggested.

"In some ways yes, although she's barely much more than five years his elder so they were raised almost as siblings too" Beric replied. "It's more than just that though, she's the Lady of Starfall and she wants to be sure that the next Lady of Starfall is worthy of the title."

Karstark narrowed his eyes. "Do you think my Alys unworthy?" he asked indignantly.

"No I think she's a lovely girl but I've met her and Allyria hasn't" Beric replied quickly. "On most things my betrothed would happily take my word on it but I don't think she believes that men are always the best judge of women" he explained. "To be fair in my experience women aren't the best judge of men either, I've seen too many fine ladies of good character fall for unscrupulous rogues, so she might have a point."

Beric smiled. "From a purely selfish standpoint I'm all for young Ned finding himself a wife" he said. "The sooner there's a new Lady of Starfall on the horizon the sooner the current Lady of Starfall is free to become the Lady of Blackhaven instead" he continued. "As an aside to that however it'll be me that has to put up with the new Lady of Blackhaven the rest of my life so I'd soon as have her happy."

"Happy wife, happy life" Richard Karstark recalled the old saying.

"If Allyria believes that Lady Alys will take good care of both Edric and the home she grew up in then I'm sure she'll give her blessing to the match. She suggested that perhaps Alys could travel down to King's Landing while she makes the journey there up from Starfall, neutral ground for both of them to meet upon."

Rickard Karstark scratched his chin. "What with the Wildlings and now the White Walkers to deal with it would give me the opportunity to get her somewhere safer for now as well" he reasoned. "Normal as like I would have sent one of her brothers with her but I'll need them in the north with a sword in their hand" he added, looking thoughtful. "If I send a raven to King's Landing asking Ned Stark to take her in for a while that could work. He's our kin after all and I might even suggest that when his eldest Sansa marries King Joffrey she could do well to have my Alys as her Lady-in-Waiting."

Now that would be a boon for the name of House Karstark, Rickard considered happily. If Alys was not only betrothed to Edric Dayne, Lord of Starfall, but was also Lady-in-Waiting to the new queen in a year or two he would garner considerable pleasure lording that over other Great Northern Houses that might well be richer than his but couldn't claim to be near as well connected.

"Allyria might like that, her sister was Lady in Waiting to Princess Elia Martell" Beric noted.

"Tragedy what happened to both of them" Karstark observed, not only because he thought so but because if Dondarrion passed on his comment to Lady Allyria it would play well.

Beric sighed. "The way I heard it the deaths of Elia and the children and then and her brother Arthur was too much for Ashara to bear" he told Karstark sadly.

"Deaths? Elia and her children were bloody well murdered" Karstark spat. "Not that I supported the dragons, I fought beside Ned Stark against Rhaegar himself at the Trident, but there was no need to butcher his children like that, neither more than three years old" he stated with distaste. "Even the ruthless sods that argue they had to die to end the war can't justify the way it was carried out."

"At least Arthur died well. In combat like a knight should" Beric said with feeling. "That's how I want to go" he said. "Ideally not for about sixty years or so of course" he joked, lightening the mood of the conversation.

"Nearer twenty for me then. I just hope I'll be able to climb on my own horse without help by that age and can still carry a lance" Karstark replied.

"No inclination to die in bed surrounded by your grandchildren?" Beric asked.

Karstark snorted. "I'd sooner walk out into the snow and freeze than become a burden if I can't go out fighting" he replied honestly. "It's our way here."

"That'll never be an option for your descendants in Dorne if Alys weds Edric. They'll have to walk out into the desert and die of thirst instead" Beric told him, still trying to be jovial though Karstark's tendency towards gloomy seriousness made that difficult.

"At least they'll grow up in a place that'll kill you if you don't treat the land with the respect it deserves. I reckon that's why men from the Reach are so bloody soft" Karstark opined. "At least Stormlanders like yourself are hardened by your bloody awful weather" there was a good reason why the Stormlands were so named, and why the sigil of House Dondarrion itself featured a lightning bolt in the design for that matter."

"It's not so bad, sometimes it can go a whole afternoon without raining. Or at least not driving rain coming in at you sideways" Dondarrion responded wryly. "Perhaps we should rejoin Ned and the ladies?" he suggested.

"Plenty of time for that. How about we find ourselves a proper drink? Something stronger than mulled wine?" Karstark suggested. "I've got a bottle of this green liquor from Volantis that'll make your hair stand on end."

Beric smiled. "Green? Are you sure it's not wildfire?" he asked in jest.

"Well It's not done for me yet like drinking wildfire did for Aerion Brightflame but I did consider getting that Pyromancer they sent to Castle Black take a look just to be sure" Karstark replied. "It lights up quick enough when you put a flame to it though, I'll say that."

"Sounds interesting at least and I'll try anything once" Beric agreed. "Of course you could say the same for Prince Aerion who should have tried not being a flaming moron and ending up a moron aflame."

Rickard Karstark looked at him. "I'll be stealing that line from you. Should be plenty of opportunities to use it now they're talking about fighting off the White Walkers with wildfire."

While her father and Lord Beric talked Alys Karstark was doing her very best to be charming. It was a skill she had tried her very best to master, with mixed success, ever since had father had been angered at her failure to be so.

When she was younger, during a family visit to Winterfell, Rickard Karstark had instructed her to charm Robb Stark in the hope of a betrothal. Alys suspected that her very name had been originally chosen to that end, another girl with the name Alys Karstark had wed Brandon Stark, Lord of Winterfell a century past, and Rickard had wanted to bind the Starks and Karstarks together in blood once again.

Alys had failed to charm Robb, though in her defence at the time she really had no idea how to do something like that. That she was only six years old at the time was seen by her father as no excuse and she had felt genuine guilt and shame for disappointing him until she was old enough to realise just how unreasonable his expectation had been.

The next boy her father told her to charm was Daryn Hornwood in the hope of another betrothal and this time she had succeeded only for Daryn's father Lord Halys to make a match with the daughter of a Lord in the Riverlands he befriended instead. At least her father did not put the blame on Alys for that one but he was clearly becoming desperate to marry her off to someone important and she feared it might be widower Lord Wyman Manderly, who was old and fat.

Then one day her father had told her to make an undershirt for a boy around her own age and commanded she deliver it personally to its intended recipient up at the wall.

Being told to charm Edric Dayne, Lord of Starfall, had come as a great relief all things considered.

Edric, he bade her to call him 'Ned', was young, well-spoken, polite and perhaps a little shy, at least around girls. He was also far from ugly with blond hair and nice teeth, looking like he would grow up to be a very handsome man indeed. It was said of course that all the men of House Dayne were brave and handsome and the women captivating and lovely with Edric's uncle Arthur being considered the greatest knight in the Seven Kingdoms and his aunt Ashara often said to be the greatest beauty.

It was fairly intimidating when she thought about it but Alys decided to do her very best to captivate the boy, not just because her father said so but because he did seem very nice and he wasn't Wyman Manderly.

Alys was smart enough to realise that her apparent success in charming another young man might have been aided by her being the only young girl around, but he did seem to like her long red hair making her grateful she had ignored suggestions to cut it shorter in one of the Essosi styles.

Fortunately Edric was happy to dispel the notion that his entire family were some kind of flawless ideal which made them seem less daunting. "No I'm serious" he told Alys and her mother, laughing, "he actually introduces himself like this" he continued, putting on a dark expression and adopting a lowgravelly voice. "Men call me Darkstar and I am of the night" he quoted before laughing again. "I remember the first time my father heard him do it, he pulled cousin Gerold to one side and told him he was trying too hard and it made him sound like a… "Edric stopped mid-sentence, "word I shouldn't use in front of ladies but it's not complementary."

Alys giggled. "I suppose every family has a black sheep" she said. "Or in your case it's a 'Dark Star' instead"

"As a guest I'll politely not ask who yours is" Edric replied, pleased he had made her laugh. "If I might be so bold that's a very pretty dress you're wearing today Lady Alys" he complemented her.

"I wish I'd had it in summer when it was warmer, I'll not get much use of it now" Alys replied regretfully.

"It would have been too big for you a year ago" her mother pointed out, "and it'll be too small for you in a year once you fill out up top" she added.

Alys blushed, as did Edric when his mind wandered to how she might look then in thinner less restrictive Dornish fashions, or perhaps a dress from the Reach that was cut low enough to display some cleavage. He reached for his goblet of mulled wine and took a hearty swig to try and hide his blushes and get his mind onto something else.

"Easy there Ned, don't let the spices in there fool you. It's a strong wine" Beric warned him, returning with a glass of something green, Rickard Karstark beside him carrying another one much like it.

"Alys how would you like to go stay in King's Landing for a while, I'll be asking Lord Stark if you can stay with him and his daughters in the Red Keep" Karstark told his daughter.

"King's Landing? Why?" her mother asked.

"The Lady Allyria, Edric's aunt, wants to meet you. She'll come up from Starfall and do so there" Karstark explained. "If she thinks you'll pass muster as the future Lady of Starfall then we'll agree a betrothal between you and young Lord Edric here and then negotiate your dowry."

Beric winked at Edric who looked happy fit to burst.

"What if she doesn't like me?" Alys asked nervously.

"She'll love you" Edric reassured her quickly.

Alys felt overwhelmed. "King's Landing is so far away" she said quietly.

"My home in Dorne is more than half again as far from here, you get used to being away" Edric told her. "Thanks to the Maesters and their ravens you can still write to your family and hear back from them right away. It's not as bad as you think, I promise."

When the ship called to collect Beric and his young squire a few days later Lady Alys and her maidservant left Karhold to travel to King's Landing with them.

Upon discovering shortly into the voyage that she suffered badly from seasickness Alys decided that it was worse than any homesickness could possibly be and vowed not to undertake the return trip any time soon. Naturally Edric proved himself ever the gentleman, holding back her long hair as she threw up over the side, though he did stop trying to steal a kiss which Alys considered reasonable under the circumstances.

Notes:

Note from the Author:

Beric and Edric visit Rickard Karstark and his daughter Alys at Karhold. Note that this all takes place a few years before we ever saw Alys in the show so she's younger here than we ever saw her (for that matter Beric looks his actual age of about twenty years younger than he seems to be in the show because he's avoided getting prematurely aged by repeated violent deaths).

Allyria Dayne is Edric's aunt, the Lady of Starfall and is herself betrothed to Beric Dondarrion, Lord of Blackhaven. Edric might be the Lord of Starfall in his own right but I can't see her not looking out for her young nephew in this way (not to mention wanting to make sure the next Lady of Starfall is suitable).

Gerold Dayne, AKA 'Darkstar' is a distant cousin of Edric. If the Maester's have a dictionary with the entry 'Edgelord' within it, you'll see Gerold noted as an example.

Think of these side stories as indicators of all the massive knock-on changes wrought to Westeros by Joffrey not being a colossal moron incidentally.